Rainulf Drengot

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Rainulf Drengot (also Ranulph, Ranulf or Rannulf; † June 1045 ) was a Norman adventurer and the first count of Aversa (1030-1045). His family came from Les Carreaux near Avesnes-en-Bray, east of Rouen in the Seine-Maritime department .

When Rainulf's brother Gilbert Buatère was expelled from the country, the two went on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Archangel Michael on Monte Sant'Angelo in the Byzantine Katepanat of Italy, together with their brothers Osmond, Raulf and Asclettin, who later became Count of Acerenza . They carried 250 warriors with them - other exiles, younger brothers who were not entitled to inheritance, and other adventurers.

In 1017 they reached southern Italy, where conditions were practically anarchic at that time. 1017-1019 they took part in the Longobard uprising under Meles of Bari against the Byzantine feudal lords. The first meeting with the Byzantine Katepan Basilios Boioannes near Cannae ended in a disaster for the Normans. Rainulf's brother Gilbert was killed and their forces were severely weakened. Rainulf was then able to assert himself as the undisputed leader and withdrew with the rest to Campania . There they shifted to protecting pilgrims who were on their way to the shrine of the Archangel Michael from being pillaged by other highwaymen for appropriate payment.

In 1024 Rainulf was the leader of the Norman mercenaries in the county of Comino, then a partisan of Waimar IV of Salerno and a little later of Pandulf IV of Capua . The frequent change of party clearly shows the Norman self-image as a powerful mercenary troop.

For Rainulf's move to the side of Duke Sergius IV of Naples, the latter gave him his sister to wife around 1029/30 and transferred the county of Aversa , located in the border area against Capua, to him . With this began a separate Norman rule formation. The county of Aversa was the port of call for the Normans, who increasingly immigrated to Lower Italy. After the death of his wife, Rainulf switched to the side of Pandulf IV of Capua and married his niece, the daughter of the Duke of Amalfi. He expanded his territory at the expense of the Abbey of Montecassino. After another change of front to the side of Waimar V von Salerno, he was enfeoffed in May 1038 in Capua by Emperor Konrad II with the county of Aversa. This meant the recognition of Norman rule in southern Italy.

After the defeat of the Byzantine troops in 1038, Rainulf declared himself prince, in order to demonstrate his independence from Naples and from his former Lombard allies. He conquered the principality of Capua. The amalgamation of these two areas to form the largest community in southern Italy was approved by Konrad II. Around 1041 Rainulf I Drengot received the Duchy of Gaeta from Waimar V for his support . From 1040 Rainulf I was instrumental in the conquest of the Byzantine territories in Apulia and Calabria by the Normans. In 1042, after the victory of his Norman ally Wilhelm von Hauteville , Siponto and the Gargano , the core of what would later become the county of Monte Sant'Angelo , were awarded to him in the distribution of the conquered or yet to be conquered areas in southern Italy .

After his death in June 1045, his nephew Asclettin, son of his brother Asclettin von Acerenza, succeeded him.

The historians Amatus von Montecassino and Wilhelm von Apulien are two contemporary sources for the life of Rainulf von Drengot.

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Individual evidence

  1. Excerpt from the Lexicon of the Middle Ages online ( Memento from May 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at genealogie-mittelalter.de, as of May 19, 2008, in the Internet Archive at archive.org